66 WHEELER. [VOL. II. 



called to this fact in an artificial nest belonging to Miss Adele 

 M. Fielde, at Woods Holl, Mass. One afternoon Miss Fielde 

 left a lot of queen pupae and larvae of Crematogaster lincolata 

 within reach of the Stcnainma colony. By the following morn- 

 ing the Stenammas had carried these into their nest, cut off 

 their heads and abdomens, and had distributed the pieces freely 

 among the larvae, which could be seen singly and in groups 

 of from two to five eagerly feeding on the juices in the same 

 manner as Ponerine larvae. Thinking that this might be a 

 very exceptional action, due to the confinement of the colony, 

 I opened numerous nests in the woods during the month of 

 August, while the, ants were rearing their second brood. In 

 nearly every one of these nests I found one or more larvae 

 feeding on substances left among them by the workers. In 

 one nest three larvae were feeding on a small Geometrid cater- 

 pillar ; in another several had their heads and necks inserted 

 into the thoraces of some small Carabid beetles that had been 

 decapitated by the ants ; in still another nest several larvae 

 were devouring the pulp of a blackberry, etc. 1 



Since making the above observation I find that Janet has 

 recorded some very similar facts. 2 He saw several large larvae 

 of Lasius uii.vtns and L. flavits sucking the juices from the 

 cadavers of small larvae of their own species. Another more 

 detailed observation I quote in cxtcnso : " C'est clans un nid 

 artificiel de Tetramorium cacspituin que j'ai pu faire, a ce 

 sujet, 1'observation la plus precise. Au moment ou les Four- 

 mis recoltees venaient de terminer leur emmenagement, j'ai 

 vu, de la facjon la plus nette, une larve d'ouvriere sucer une 

 petite larve jaune de Coleoptere. La larve de Tetramorinm 

 n'etait pas tres eloignee d'avoir atteint sa taille definitive. 

 Elle etait suspendue par ses poils d'accrochage centre la paroi 

 du nid, immediatement sous le plafond en verre. Elle etait 

 place"e horizontalement, le dos en haut, mais un pen de cote. 



1 Stenamnict fill-sum also brings into its chambers numerous seeds and the 

 corollas of small white flowers. I mention this fact because it shows that this 

 ant, which is normally carnivorous, nevertheless has proclivities that ally it by 

 instinct as well as by structure to the harvesting ants of the subgenus Messor. 



2 l^e Lasius nii.\lits, etc., Inc. fit., pp. 10-12. 



